Media Report

Ernie Harwell tribute fitting for Wayne State

Sports columnist Terry Foster wrote a feature about the remodeling project of Wayne State’s baseball field and renaming to Ernie Harwell Field. Rob Fournier, Wayne State University athletic director, describes the project which has generated $234,000 of the $550,000 needed to complete Phase I. “It creates uniqueness for our baseball program,” Fournier said of the stadium, which is patterned after New York’s Ebbets Field, where Harwell broadcasted games for the Brooklyn Dodgers. “What you have is that nostalgia or that connection to a different era.” “Think about it,” Fournier said. “(Harwell) was at your family outings. And he was the background to the family barbecue. When he talked about the foul ball going into the stands and talked about the fan from Escanaba, Allen Park or Hamtramck catching the ball, you would say, ‘Darn, how did he know that person?’ “But you knew he knew everybody, even if he did not know the person. He had that kind of credibility.”